Nursing homes ‘not to blame’
Dr Finbarr Corkery, president, Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), said individual patients needed different levels of care and nursing homes were not always in a position to tailor services to needs.
His comments come in the wake of criticism last month by a High Court judge of the care provided by a nursing home in Dublin.
“The provision of care tends to be homogenous, but it is the facilities available and not the nursing homes that are at fault. It has to be realised that different needs require different levels of funding.”
Dr Corkery said while funding for elderly patients who were generally well might be adequate, professional staff were often stretched to care for those whose needs were greater.
“Since the State sector has got involved in public-private partnerships, there has been block-booking of accommodation in private nursing homes. However, the homes can only provide the level of care that is economically viable for them. It is a little unfair for health boards to let it entirely up to nursing homes to provide appropriate care in every circumstance,” he said.
Dr Corkery said pressures in the health service arose out of the need to free up acute hospital beds.
“Some patients could be in nursing homes for social reasons, because they may need a moderate amount of supervision, or they could be chronically ill with high dependency levels. We must get away from the notion that one size fits all,” he said.
The ICGP plans to carry out a needs assessment in relation to the role of GPs attending and providing services at nursing homes.
Dr Corkery said there was a need for standardised care of the elderly and a standardised admissions policy to replace the current ad hoc system.
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